Reassessing Fear: Embracing Faith in God's Presence

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you from God our Father.

I want to say good morning to my Pittsburgh Church of God family and to all of the saints who are gathered with us today. I am Pastor Ophelia Livingston, senior pastor of Pittsburgh Church of God, where we praise, where the saints connect with the lost, overcome our fears, and grow deeper in our faith.

This is your special day, and I just want to tell you how fortunate I am and how happy I am that you're with us today. I know that we are all thankful for the time that we can spend with each other, and we’re thankful for the time that we can give God some praise. Hallelujah!

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At this time, let us prepare our hearts and our minds as we go into the Word of God. But more importantly, we want the Word of God to enter into our hearts. We want the Word of God to saturate our spirits. We need the Word of God to speak to us in such a way that we don't leave the same way we came. And that’s so important—that we don’t leave the same way we came—so we can grow deeper in our faith.

At this time, let us look to the Lord in prayer.

Lord, we celebrate your grace and mercy through our faithful living. Lord, during this season, push us to do more, push us to be better, and push us to be wiser. Overflow our hearts and expand our thoughts so that we may bind ourselves to Thee.

And Lord, consecrate me now to those service. Lord, by the power of grace divine, let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in Thine.

Now, Father, hide me behind the cross that they see none of me but all of You. In the matchless name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen, amen, and amen.

So let us go to 2 Kings, the sixth chapter, verses 15 through 17. So grab your Bibles, your tablets, your iPads, whatever you use today, and just turn with me to 2 Kings, the sixth chapter, starting at the fifteenth verse.

I will be reading from the NIV, and it reads like this:

"When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 'Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?' the servant asked.

'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'

And Elisha prayed, 'Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."

From that passage of Scripture, I want to use for a subject: "God Will Provide—Look Again."

As we've been navigating the sermon series "Darkness and the Light of Day," you may have noticed that in each of these previous sermons, God opened the eyes of someone.

See, when Hagar was blind to hopelessness, God opened her eyes. When she looked up, she could see the well in the wilderness that provided refreshing water for her and her son Ishmael. When Balaam had a mixture of arrogance and conceit because he was on his way to do what God didn't want him to do to the children of Israel, God opened his eyes. And when that soothsayer Balaam looked out, he was overcome with joy for God's saving grace because God spared his life when He could have killed Balaam for his arrogance.

It's very clear in this sermon series that when all hope is gone, and when we can't do anything else on our own, I'm glad that we see a God that is able and willing to intervene in our lives. God is able to step in and turn a dire situation around.

I'm glad that when we can't see what God wants us to see, we can get off our spiritual path. When we get off our spiritual path, God just navigates on our behalf and puts resources in our pathway, even when we can't see those resources ourselves.

See, God just steps in right on time, and He will open our eyes so that we can see what was there all along.

In today's passage, it will move us into another trajectory called "Fear." Not only do we sometimes struggle with hopelessness and arrogance, but many of us struggle with fear. Fear is something that we don't always want to talk about. Fear keeps us from fulfilling the destiny that God has provided for us in our own lives.

Fear keeps us from living and experiencing life. Fear keeps us from being focused on the present. Fear can even keep us from being loved and seeking love. And if we're not careful, fear can blind us from the presence of God. Oftentimes, based on circumstances in our own lives, based on how we perceive to fix the situation—that's what fear does to us.

Fear can grip and stall us in the moment of tension, anxiety, and nervousness. As I stated when I started the sermon series, your mind gets vision from your eyes as to what your eyes will perceive. See, the mind doesn't develop the vision; your eyes have to see it first. And once your eyes see it, then the mind will develop that vision.

But oftentimes, we miss out on God's presence, which was there all along, because we have fear. Hope can see; hope can help us correct that. But only hope can correct that if the lenses that we're using are not based on fear.

See, this leads me to the passage found in 2 Kings, chapter 6. A lot has taken place because Elijah has already gone to heaven in a whirlwind. Naaman has dipped seven times in the River Jordan. The nation of Israel is maturing, and the Israelites are trying to discover who God has called them to be. They are trying to understand the nuances of being a set-apart people of God during this time in history.

For nations to have dominance, oftentimes that particular nation has to go into battle with other nations, and that's what sets the stage for this passage in 2 Kings, chapter 6.

See, there is a king in Aram who is trying his best to destroy the people of God. But God has a prophet by the name of Elijah, to whom God gives prophetic insight. Because of Elijah's prophetic insight, the king of Aram is trying to strategize against the people of God.

It's almost like God gives Elijah the ability to see the king's every move. Whatever the king is doing, Elijah has the prophetic vision to see it because God has given Elijah that vision. Every move the king makes seems like Elijah is one step ahead. Therefore, every move the king and his army make is being blocked by Elijah and the army of Israel.

This angers the king of Aram to the point that he is trying to find out who the mole is in his own army. The king wants to know who is betraying his every move. But one of the king's people tells him that it's not an internal source; it's not coming from within. It's coming from without, and it's coming from the prophet named Elijah.

See, the prophet Elijah is able to hear everything that you're saying—that's what the people go back and tell the king of Aram. The king of Aram thinks that if he can get Elijah out of the picture, then he can destroy God's people. And that's what sets the stage for what we're going through in this chapter and in these verses.

See, the king of Aram sends horses and chariots to surround the house where Elijah is staying. And in Elijah's house, there is a servant by the name we don't know; the name is not given. We don't even know where he comes from. As a matter of fact, we don't even know the length of time the servant has been with Elijah.

But what we do know is what happens in verse 15. Early one morning, this servant gets up to ensure that whatever the master Elijah needs is already there. He wants to ensure that every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed.

This servant wakes up to check out the scenery, and my Bible says that when the servant goes out, when he checks everything out, when the servant opens the door, what he sees is an army with horses and chariots that have surrounded the city.

I can't imagine this servant's eyes widening and his jaw dropping in surprise. I can only imagine that this servant stepped back into the house of Elijah, bewildered, baffled, confused, dazed, puzzled, and taken aback. I can only imagine that the servant felt a knot in his stomach.

I can only imagine that the servant, looking over the city, starts shaking in his boots because he sees an army of soldiers that have surrounded the city. He is shaking with trepidation.

See, this servant is seeing an army surrounding him and surrounding Elijah's beloved city. So the servant is saying to himself, "I think we're finished. This war is over before it started. We're done. We're toast."

See, have you ever been there? Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you didn't see the end, but you just wanted to surrender yourself to whatever situation was in front of you? All this servant did was open the door, and immediately he felt fear.

Sometimes, just like us, when things happen in our lives, we immediately feel fear. He cries out to Elijah, "Oh Lord, what are we going to do?"

The prophet Elijah tells him, "Don't be afraid."

See, the scripture doesn't tell us if Elijah saw the army of soldiers because sometimes what you see, you don't fear. If you don't see it, you have no fear. All I know is that Elijah told the servant, "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

And then Elijah began to pray. He prayed to God, saying, "Open the eyes of the servant." That's what he said: "Open the eyes of the servant."

Why did he pray that? He wanted to ensure that his servant may see something differently, and that is exactly what the Lord did.

When the servant looked out of Elijah's house the second time, see, when the servant looked again, this servant saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire instead of seeing the army of Aram. He sees the army of God.

See, the text gives us different progressions of how we see. We see through frustration, like the king of Aram. We can see through fear, like the servant. Or when we get down to brass tacks, we can see through faith, like Elijah.

But there are three progressions in this text of how fear and how we see things: frustration, fear, and faith. How do you look at it? How do you see things in your life? Are you looking through frustration? Are you looking through fear? Or are you seeing faith?

When you have a situation that causes you fear, that causes you to pause on what you need to do in your next move, see, many of us fear like the servant did when he opened the door the first time.

We feel like the bottom is about to give away. We feel like we don't know which way we need to turn. We feel like the opposition has gotten the upper hand. We feel like we need to tuck tail and run.

I want to tell somebody today that God wants you to take a second look at your situation. God wants you to look again.

See, God is trying to heal you of your weakness. God is trying to heal you of your lack of faith. Perhaps you have already made up your mind that you're going to throw in the towel. Perhaps you have already decided that your situation is a no-go. Perhaps you've already decided that your reputation is in the toilet, so it doesn't matter what you do. Perhaps you've already decided that life is not worth living.

But I double dare you right now to take a second look at your situation. And when you take a second look at your situation, I just want you to know that God is with you and that God will provide. All you have to do is look again.

What if I told you that God is in the business of opening the eyes of those who trust in His presence, who trust in His purpose, and who trust in His power?

And what you may see as too many hills to climb, God will show you that you still have the advantage. Can I get an amen right here? Because when God tells you that you have the advantage, then you know that God is going to get you out of that situation.

God is going to see you through it. He's going to help you to see something that you didn't see the first time.

God tells the servant that there is more on your side than there is against you.

See, you told me what your soul, but with God on your side, I want you to look again.

So my question today is: How do I get that second look?

If you're going to get that second look, you must first reassess your fears. Let's look at the text.

See, in verse 15, the servant cried out, "Oh no, my lord!" The servant is scared; the servant is fearful. An army of horses and chariots are surrounding the city. Fear showed up because when the servant took a step out of the safety of Elijah's house, what he saw was not what he was looking for.

When the unexpected happened in our lives, it scares us too, and we become very fearful. See, that stuff that's in our lives—that's the stuff that scares us. It catches us off guard.

It's hard to become calm when something catches you off guard. None of us can coordinate the bad things that are going to happen in our lives. We don't plan on it; it just happens.

See, I never scheduled to have a flat tire. You don't schedule to have a flat; it just happens sometimes. You don't plan on losing your job. You don't plan on losing a spouse. You don't plan on losing a loved one. You don't plan on having things that are detrimental in your life. Sometimes stuff just happens.

And how we respond to it teaches us how we will perceive it to be, and that is what the servant is struggling with right now.

See, this servant runs back to Elijah, telling him that the king of Aram's army has us surrounded. The whole city is surrounded, and guess what, Elijah? Your house is surrounded too!

But Elijah tells his servant, "Do not be afraid."

See, Elijah didn't waste any time getting to the root of the problem. He went straight there. He saw that his servant was scared; his servant was now living in fear. The army of horses and chariots were not the problem; fear was the problem.

Fear keeps us from seeing God. Fear keeps you from doing what is right. And fear is not part of what God wants us to be because my Bible tells me that God does not give us the spirit of fear, but He gives us the power of love and of a sound mind.

Which means that when I'm wrestling with fear, when I'm wrestling with my situation, when I'm wrestling with things that I don't understand, it's not God.

And so when fear comes into my life, I must understand that fear is nothing more than "frantic evidence appearing real."

So you can't make opposition go away, but how you respond to it is how you're going to hold on to your faith.

See, King David understood that "frantic evidence appearing real" is not where he should be, so he wrote the 23rd Psalm. And it goes like this: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me."

When God's presence is there, there's no need for you to be in a frantic state of mind.

See, have you ever watched a movie, and then you're too scared to go to sleep? After you relax a little bit, you're still reliving that scene in your mind, and you're becoming fearful because sometimes you think it's going to happen to you in real life.

And sometimes you even said some ugly things to your spouse, and then you're sleeping with one eye open because you have no idea what's going to happen to you while you sleep.

But I'm here to tell you that when you know the God that you serve, when you know that there is nothing for you to be fearful of, not only do we need to reassess our fears before we take that second look, but secondly, we need to recommit our faith.

You need to recommit your faith. Notice what Elijah does when the servant tells him what he sees outside.

See, when Elijah acknowledged the fear in his servant's voice, Elijah prayed. The only way I know how to manage fear is to have strong faith because faith and fear cannot occupy the same space.

The first thing Elijah did was pray. Elijah knew who to talk to. Elijah knew in that moment what mattered most was prayer. The prophet Elijah needed clarity about the situation, so he just prayed.

Have you ever gotten clarity in your situations in life? Did you go to your own private closet and just pray to God?

See, Elijah didn't scold his servant for being fearful; he prayed. Elijah didn't become frantic when he heard the news that the king of Aram's army has surrounded the city. He just recommitted his faith through prayer.

His response to frantic fear was to boost his faith in God, so he prayed. He remained connected to God.

Sometimes what we do is start talking to our friends when we become frantic, when we become fearful. Sometimes what we do is that we start posting on social media, "I got a problem! What do y'all think I should do about my problem?"

And when that happens, you're going to get a thousand answers, and you still may not like any of those thousand answers. But what you should have done was to take your fear to God.

Your first conversation should have been with God and not on Facebook and not with your Instagram family that you haven't physically seen in six months.

Somebody should be able to testify with me that something happens when you go to God in prayer. Something happens when you take your situations to God.

There’s something that changes in the atmosphere when you start praying. There’s something that changes and calms you and brings you a euphoric feeling after you pray because you know that God has stepped in.

And you know that God will open your eyes and give you a prepared solution that you can take to the bank because you know God is with you.

See, when you know you have turned it over to God, when you know that you have done all that you can do and there’s nothing else left for you to do, all you have to do is turn that situation over to God.

I'm here to tell you that God will provide for you. All you have to do is have a little talk with Jesus. Tell Him all about your problems. He will hear your faintest cry, and He will answer by and by.

You know a little fire is burning, and when you just have that little talk with Jesus, He’s going to make your whole. When you have that little talk with Jesus, you can rest assured that your problem is going to come up with a solution.

It may not be when you want it, but I guarantee you it will be right on time because the prayers of the righteous avail much—that's what my Bible says.

The prayers of the righteous avail much, but we have to take it to God in prayer.

To change your circumstances, you must reassess your fears. To change your circumstances and have a second look, you must recommit your faith.

And the last thing I want to tell you today is that you have to re-establish your faith.

The third thing you have to do is re-establish your faith. See, the Bible says something intriguing. After Elijah prayed to the Lord to open his servant's eyes, the Lord did just that.

Let's look at verse 17 of the text. The Lord opened the servant's eyes. When the servant looked again, my Bible says that now he sees hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

So don’t miss your shout right there! What Elijah did was pray.

See, there was no real specificity in his prayer. Elijah didn't pray that God tell him what to see. Elijah only asked God to open his servant's eyes.

And by the time the servant goes back, by the time the servant goes to the door and looks again, notice the servant has gone to that same door. He sees something that he didn't see the last time.

See, the first time when the servant looked, he saw horses and chariots of the king of Aram's army. But when the servant looked a second time, he saw horses and chariots of fire, which symbolizes God's army.

Aren't you glad that God can step in in your situation and change it all around? And you can see something differently.

But what you had to do was look again.

See, the first time the servant perceived the enemy's army—that's what he saw the first time. And the second time, he perceived God's army.

How did he perceive that? Because Elijah prayed and said, "Lord, open my servant's eyes so he will be able to see."

I’m through now. I want you to understand how powerful God is. God would reveal Himself on one hand and then He will hide what you don't need to pay attention to in the second go-round.

See, in the second go-round, that servant didn't see man's army, but in the second go-round, he saw what God was able to do. He saw God's army.

See, when you see through the lens of faith, your eyes will be open.

I'm so glad that I serve a God that blocks my view, that blocks the vision that I don't need to see. And sometimes, when I'm mature enough, He will open my eyes to see exactly what I need to do.

So He just opens my eyes when it's time for me to see the next phase that I need to go through.

I'm so glad that I serve a God that lets us know that at the end of the day, if we stay focused on Him, at the end of the day, I will have "frantic evidence appearing real," which means I won't have fear.

Because as long as I have God, I'm not going to have fear inside of me. As long as I'm focused on God, I got God's army protecting me.

As long as I stay focused on God, He is all that I need. As long as I stay focused on God, He’s my shelter in the time of storm.

As long as I stay focused on God, He’s my rock in a weary land. As long as I stay focused on Him, He’s my lawyer in a courtroom.

See, I like the way the songwriter put it: "As long as I got King Jesus."

I like that part: "As long as I got King Jesus."

As long as you got Jesus on your side and you're focused on what the Lord is telling you to do, I'm here to tell you, you don't need anybody else.

As long as you got King Jesus.

See, when you stay focused on God, and when you look again, you will see that God is able to change your situation. He's able to turn things around for you.

He'll turn it around, and when God turns it around for you, it's going to be in your favor.

Won't you let God in your heart today? If you let God in your heart today, He will just turn it around.

And when you look again, when you look the second time, it's going to appear that God was there, and you're not going to see the problem that you were in because God is going to handle your situation.

As long as you stay focused, as long as you stay focused on God, look again because God will provide what you need.

I want you to know that if you're without Christ and you're looking for a way out, God is the answer. You don't have to live in fear. You don't have to have that frantic evidence.

What you need to have is you need to know that God is going to protect you. He's going to be there for you. God is going to see what you need to see, and God will open your eyes so you can see it too.

This is Pastor Livingston. I hope that you have enjoyed being out here in the sermon today. We talked about "God Will Provide—All You Have to Do is Look Again."

I'm in the series of "Darkness and the Light of Day." We've looked up, we've looked out, and today we looked again. That second look can sometimes change the atmosphere of what you see in life.

God bless you. May the Lord and may heaven smile upon you. Until we meet next week, this is Pastor Livingston, senior pastor of Pittsburgh Church of God. Thank you, and God bless you.